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When Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, Tennessee, and Fulton Adventist University in Suva, Fiji, first discussed a potential partnership, the goal was simple: to provide students in the Pacific region of the Seventh-day Adventist Church with the opportunity to heighten their communication skills. As an agreement took shape, the possibilities broadened into an international footprint for Southern.

“We are reaching out beyond our Collegedale campus and our country’s borders to teach courses on the other side of the globe,” says Rachel Williams-Smith, PhD, dean of the School of Journalism and Communication at Southern.

The idea for collaboration originated when John Tausere, former communication coordinator for the Trans-Pacific Union Mission and current author for Adventist Record, struggled to recruit teaching support for the college. One requirement was for courses to be taught in English, which not all institutions could accommodate.

“I’ve seen firsthand the challenges faced by church workers in island mission fields,” Tausere shares. “Many of them were involved in communications and media but had no formal training in these areas.”

To create new opportunities for Fulton students, Southern now offers online courses in 8-week sessions, such as Writing for the Media, Communication Theory, and Social Media Strategies, among others. The initiative has the potential to benefit learners both academically and spiritually.

“We will be helping train young people who need to master the art of sharing the gospel,” Williams-Smith notes. “Even from a distance, we can shape our program to fit the specific needs of Fulton students.”

More than 70 students on Southern’s campus majored in journalism and communication disciplines for the Fall 2025 semester, with 14 Fulton students—from Samoa, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Tonga, Gilbert Islands, and Solomon Islands—enrolled for the first session of online communication courses.

Nellie Manuca, registrar at Fulton Adventist University, shares that feedback from Fulton students has been overwhelmingly positive. “This joint initiative has introduced advanced digital tools into communication courses, enabling students to monitor their progress in real time and remain actively engaged throughout their studies,” she says. “It is transforming the learning experience for students and represents a significant step forward in enhancing education through both technological innovation and regional collaboration.”

Gus Martin, PhD, director of Southern’s Online Campus through which the courses are hosted, visited the Fulton campus in Fiji during the Fall 2025 semester, and says, “It’s been wonderful to see how much the students are enjoying the courses! The content has been tailored for them to connect it directly to their own culture and communities, which has made the learning experience very meaningful.”

Martin shared that he looks forward to Southern facilitating more partnerships like this in the future. “My hope is for Southern to serve as a model by equipping and training other schools, like Fulton Adventist University, so they can do similar work and reach even more people in their territories.”

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